Reviews - CYrid

I can't believe this is the first beta mod to be fully completed. It has won the "First ever beta mod to be finished" reward. The competitors. Dark Interval, RTB:R, Build2001 have lost. sucks

another trash mod invading the HL sections. this could've been an add-on.

I played this mod back in May of 2020 and since I've stuck with it on the Public Discord Server for RTBR, I played the new 1.2 update for the mod, and here are my thoughts on it.

Introduction: Gman sequence is a lot longer than previously, but there is some notable info to take from him (that's ofc if you paid attention to him), and this time he actually takes you to parts of the game instead of just racing through the stars of the universe like las time. However, it does tend to get a bit...boring Ig? Or at least it would give some people Boredom from just hearing him talk.

Trainstation: WAY different from last time. Better lighting, mapping has been improved and the Environment Details are good. The consul though, yeah some didn't like his "Russian" accent. (which it isn't..) Although I have to admit that I like it only because it's a team decision and ORIGINAL, meaning that since there are no plausible answers about what his voice would sound like. (well besides the few old audio clips, but then again it's very inaudible to hear his accent.) Oh and uh Consul looks like Humpty Dumpty :)

Terminal: Last time I didn't like it because it wasn't eye-candy enough. But! The mapping has greatly improved, the lighting feels more realistic, and the place is more alive instead of quiet. Also, the pacing is better but I still don't know how Gordon knows where to go. The Scout is there but he doesn't provide enough information regarding the direction to Barney, he leaves Gordon figuring it out himself.

Free TVs: Better sense of direction and the scenes actually make sense now.

Industrial: Lots of new stuff that I don't want to spoil too much in. New and improved mapping, level design, lighting, and just new things see. Although I liked the new addition to the "Human Index" that Barney mentions, but he still doesn't tell the player where to go. Again, leaving Gordon to figure it out.

Kleiner's lab: New VA for Kleiner, sounds just like him. Very impressive. New details and stuff you can interact with. (Such as the combot and the Cremator head lighter thing). HEV suit is good in quality compared to last time. The teleport chamber in my opinion is SO much better. I won't get into explaining it though.

Streets/Consul Plaza: This is a mixed bag for me. Some parts are good some aren't. The apartment fight you get your first Pistol is pretty nice CQB. After that, the Helicopter chase does get a bit annoying for some (I wasn't bothered by it.) But it's pretty easy to dodge if you anticipate it. But the new Heli model and sounds are great. Consul Plaza now feels the same as last time, but without the helicopter. It confusing and a bit wide and makes some people have a hard time figuring out where to go.

Arcade: Cool mini-boss fight. Though I'm not sure if the cremator should be the boss here. Nice models though. After you kill both and go inside the arcade it plays the same as last time except but the lighting and detailing are much better here.

Underground: Plays the same but with better lighting and detailing. Zombie Models are unique.

I missed some other big parts but I'll leave it for you to decide. But...

General: Weapons play SO WELL. I just love their models, sounds, and animations.

New models for NPCs IMO are good but a bit funny/cartoony. Headcrabs look like turkeys and the CPs/Elites look very cartoony, especially their head models. But the cremator and citizens are nice replicates to the beta ones and I think they're good. (I love the HLA inspiration you took for some parts of the mod.)

The pacing and direction need to be worked on, I just don't know how Gordon knows where to go. Not that I was confused but it doesn't make sense for Gordon to be going deep in factories or climbing on a crane by just guessing that it will take him out of there. I'd say the Construction part with the crane was the biggest downside of the mod.

Conclusion: I did give RTBR a 9/10 back in May because I was a dumb person and didn't understand anything and just thought "omg cool graphics yay new models for beta mod haha" yeah... anyways I did bring it down to an 8 (well if there was the option, 7.5) only because the pacing needs heavy work, and I hope the developers come back to Div 1 in the future to fix it.

I am thrilled to see Div 2 because I've heard a lot of interesting stuff about it on the discord server, AND it's supposed to be more *into the action/story* Ig you could say. So far in the development of RTBR. Not to mention that you can see some screenshots of Eli's Den and the Canals. It looks pretty good if you ask me.

Farewell to the team and good luck making RTBR! (Word of advice, if you see any nitpickers ******* on the mod as "feedback" don't listen to that crap and focus on the constructive criticism you get.) Good luck!

Hi welcome to EB games.

Gordon is thicc

Stolen Asset Galore that it's very self-explanatory.

Probably one of the best HL2 beta remakes out there, if not the best. Played this a while back but didn't make a review for it since I was fairly new and wasn't aware of things.

Pros:
This mod hits the beta feel extremely good with the depressing atmosphere and general beta tone.

I can see the effort and good sense of direction with the way on how the mapping was executed in this mod.

I noticed the detail that was put into this and I thought it was remarkable. (Especially since it's CVOX doing the mapping with the help of A-Shift and a few others.

Cons:

Some areas are a bit huge and very openly without much activity in them, but I do see what's intended.

For me, it's almost as if the mod "likes" to take away the player from their weapons in multiple scenarios.

Some sequences are bugged and don't really make sense? I guess you could say. (Yes that man not properly sitting in his seat.)

Overall, I liked this mod really a lot, but it doesn't have the perfection of THE beta (yet) and will only get better over time. I have also played the public demo for Part 2 but I'm not gonna really make a review on that till all of Part 2 is released. I'd also want to specify that this isn't the only big beta mod out there as mods like RTB:R is trying to re-make their own style. (However, RTB:R doesn't have the developing style like Dark interval does, which is why I prefer DI than RTB:R. But I still think it's alright for an indie game!)

This review might've been short because I don't have time to make an all-out review on the mod. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and hope the best for ya'll!